Molecule Studio has designed a new workplace in Sydney for wealth management firm Escala Partners, which is a “sibling space” to the Melbourne HQ both in functional brief and aesthetic design. 

The brief was to achieve a unique identity for the Sydney workplace, without creating a major deviation from the design characteristics executed in the original HQ.

The space planning approach to the Sydney office capitalises on the strong entry axis from the lift lobby and the iconic harbour views.

Clients are welcomed into a generous reception area and lounge, a flexible space which is used for informal client meetings and evening functions.

The boardroom and several smaller meeting rooms are positioned adjacent to the facade, capturing glimpses of Sydney harbour through a Manhattan-like skyscraper landscape in the foreground.

The reception joinery, a nine-metre-long element in timber veneer and marble, is utilised as a backdrop to the client lounge space and as a spatial divider to the workspace beyond. Pivot panels enable controlled connecting views through to the staff kitchen and café where the timber floorboards and veneer joinery continue a palette of richness and formality.

“The introduction of new luxury materials into the finishes palette are in deliberate reference to the Sydney coastal landscape and its geological context: teal-green upholstery, caramel leather, dark stained timber veneer and sandstone-inspired Palomino marble create a subtle tuning and differentiation from the navy, tan and rosewood tones of the Melbourne office,” explains Anja de Spa, director, Molecule Studio.

The two workplaces sit with the dialogue of close siblings, sharing the same design principles and brand philosophy, but each with an atmosphere that is uniquely their own.

Photography by Prue Ruscoe